[jboles]

> Is it stepped at all? Do you owe nothing before 50k and then once you cross that threshold you now owe money? That would seem to incentivise staying below that threshold for a percentage of borrowers.

You make no repayments below 50k but it when it kicks in starting at 50k it's something like 1.5% of income, with increments as you earn more. Combined with the fact that it's (1) real-interest free, (2) payments are collected by the Tax Office and automatically added on to your tax bill, and (3) Australia is really expensive, there's not much incentive to stay below 50k just to avoid paying it. Historically there have also been large discounts (10-20%) just for voluntarily paying it early too.